A Red Rose
by AngelKairi
Summary: It's been a year since he saw her, and Sora's after the perfect gift for Valentine's Day. A red rose for Valentine's Day? He was thinking something a little more original...


Disclamer is on my profile. Please check out my other fics "Destiny Central", "Rebuilding Lives", "My Yuffie", and "Wounds Too Deep To Heal." Once again, obviously, their links are on my profile page.

* * *

Now, this is a new idea I've had. Here's the rules:

1- Any pairing done at request via review or emial, and posted here. (Review preferably- I luv 'em). Slash included. I'll write any circumstance and any pairing.

2- I won't write lemons, or any other kind of citrus. It's not my thing. Go ask someone else or write it yourself if you want it that juicy.

3- Tragedies will be included, provided there is still fluff in there somewhere.

4- OCs- if there's a particular OC you want, send me an email with the details about the OC and the basic intro paragraph so I know what you want.

5- No crossovers except with FF games. Any FF characters not in FFX, please do the same as you would with point 4. I'll do crossovers only for ultra speshul times, like when I feel generous.

6- Messed up romances between, eg. Donald and Goofy, won't be done unless you can put up with a whole chapter on brotherly, comradely love. So there.

7- Song fics- I WILL do song fics. If YOU write the lyrics and send 'em to me, or beg me-a lot- to write a song. I'm not having this deleted coz you wanted to see the characters dance to your favourite music.

8- All pairings must be from FF, KH, Disney, or any KH/FF/Diz character X OC.

9- IMPORTANT- I'm under NO obligation to write your request. I'll try to do them all, but I can't promise.

Thank you!

This is the first one-shot. A traditional and still yummy SoKai with a pretty generous dollop of Squffie on the side. >giggles> I usually plan things COMPLETELY differently to the way they end up. Like with Cloud in the bathroom in DC… >more giggles and a sigh at mental image>

* * *

_Flowers… flowers… flowers… ah-hah! _Flowers! He dashed sideways into the florist's.

"Excuse me, Miss… whatever. Do you have any purple roses?"

This florist didn't laugh, much to her credit. Sora was sick of that long line of flower-sellers who'd snorted at the mention of a purple rose for Valentine's Day. "Don't you mean a red rose, kid? It _is _Valentine's Day, y'know." She stared at him, clearly bored, occasionally popping a once-pink wad of bubble gum each time it swelled up.

"No, Miss, I mean purple. P. U. R. P. L. E. Like this." He waved a leathery dried petal at her, a rose petal the colour of pale lavender. He'd found it inside a lucky charm in the shape of a star (_a paopu fruit_, his mind still insisted). The charm, hidden safely inside his jacket, was in prime condition, because it belonged so someone very dear to him.

She hardly bothered to glance at the petal. "Sorry kid. There's only red roses in all Agrabah shops until _after _Valentine's Day."

"Oh. Well, thanks anyway. Bye." Sora turned and headed for the exit of the lamp-illuminated shop.

"Oi kid," he looked over his shoulder- the bored florist seemed to have made a decision. She pointed to a jug next to the door, right beside him. "Have a rose. On the house."

He plucked one from the rough clay vessel, its dark green stem still dripping. "Thanks." _Another one to add to the collection. _He sighed, shaking a brown strand of hair out of his piercing blue eyes and placed the rose with nearly three dozen others in a moist cloth bag under his cloak (1).

"Kid, red'll go better with your black duds, trust me."

"Okay, yep, bye." He walked out. _Glad I've got a warp on _Highwind (2)_, or else it'd take me ages to get to Traverse. Shoulda known better than to try at Halloween Town, all they had were forget-me-nots, black roses… and dead flowers. Whoa. _Big _surprise there, Sora. Okay, next on the list… _definitely _bypass Wonderland, all they'll _ever_ have is red and white roses. Yep. Go for Traverse. Only place with a bit of variety._

The Keyblade Master wandered past countless multi-coloured stall lining sand- coloured walls, through the Plaza and into the desert outside Agrabah's walls where his gummi ship _Highwind_ waited.

* * *

"Where now, Sora? Can we go to your home yet?" A blonde, naïve-sounding girl asked eagerly as the blue-eyed boy embarked _Highwind. _

"Not yet, Nami," he sighed and sat himself at the cockpit controls. "Maybe after Traverse Town." The Keyblade wielder smoothly took off into warp mode, selecting a flashing light on the control pad that read "Traverse Tn".

The delicate blonde sighed too, and settled in for another long wait.

* * *

"No, for the last time, I told you, I don't want a _red _rose, I want a _lilac _rose!" Sora was fast losing his patience with the doddery aged flower-seller.

"Yesh, yesh, we have lilacsh," the woman muttered, tottering over to a tub of pale purple flowers and thrusting a handful at him.

He pushed them back at her, forcing himself to stay calm. _Even Ansem would be easier to handle than _this! He seethed inwardly. "Not actual lilacs, I meant a purple _rose!_"

"Sheesh, no need to yell," the woman scowled, hobbling over to the counter. She froze suddenly, squinting at a cuckoo clock on the wall that Sora recognized as Gepetto's work. "Oh, look at sha time, musht go now." With that, the old woman picked up a hessian bag that was at least as old as she was and pushed past Sora to the doorway.

"Mai!" a gentle voice chided. "That's no way to leave a customer! And why haven't you turned on the lights?"

Sora couldn't _see _the figure in the doorway, but he knew instantly who it was. _She sounds like she hasn't changed at all… _"_Aerith!_"

"Who? Who's there? Oh… _Fira!_" there was a flicker of magic, then three Moogle-made lamps sputtered simultaneously into life all around the shop. "Sora!" the pink-clad brunette cried, dropping a basket of hydrangea blooms and throwing her arms around him, clasping the Keyblade master to a generous busom as the rude old woman made good her escape. "How _are _you? How have you _been_? Oh, we've all been so _worried _about you! Did you defeat Ansem? Oh, but you _must _have, you're here now and in one piece!"

Sora pried himself from the pink flower-girl's embrace with difficulty. "Aer, sorry, I _really _have to go soon. I need to get to Destiny Islands before nightfall, I haven't been home yet…"

Her face displayed combined shock and sympathy instantly. Oh, that poor, poor Kairi! You haven't been to see her yet? Well, you go see her and all your friends and then you can come back here for a visit, okay?"

"Okay…" he trailed off weakly.

"Good. Now, when you see h-"

A black-leather-garbed Leon burst into the shop, looking decidedly harassed. And disheveled. And rushed. "Aer, you got any red roses? No? What about yellow? Come on, any but pink? You know Yuffie hates pink…" he broke off at the sound of choking.

Sora tried to hold in delighted laughter. "You and _Yuffie?_ That's great!" he swung back to Aerith. "Does that mean Cloud's back? Did he find his way home to you? Are you and him together, too?"

"_Sora?_" the tall, usually grim man wore a smile at odds with the scar on his face, and reached him in two paces to grip his gloved hand in a brotherly sort of way. "How did it go? Did you beat Ansem?" his icy blue gaze was intent on Sora's face, searching for the answers.

"Wait on," Sora muttered, ignoring the chocolate-haired man's questions. "So why are you getting flowers?"

"Oh. Oh God. I nearly forgot. Aer, _please_ tell me you have some red roses." The Gunblade wielder begged Aerith. "I told Yuffie to meet me at the Waterway. She thinks it's for training. I swear, she doesn't believe I even _know _about Valentine's Day."

Aerith was shaking her head. "I'm sorry, Leon, they're all sold out." She continued relentlessly over the man's anguished cry. "You know how business goes on Valentine's Day, Leon. Why didn't you come earlier?"

"I only just made my mind up about what to do a few minutes ago!" the man replied, agitated. He seemed about to say something when a clear voice echoed about the little store and, the Keyblade master was sure, all throughout the Second District as well.

"Aerith!"

If Sora had thought that the unflappable Leon had been nervous before, he quickly modified that thought. The man seemed to be sitting on hot coals now. "Oh damn! What if she finds me! Sorry, Aer!" Leon vaulted over the counter and ducked down the other side of it, narrowly missing a lamp.

"Hola, Aerith! Just letting you know to have a Cura or two ready, I'm going off to train with Mister 'Squall-um-Leon.' Okies? Coz I'm gonna kick him all over the district…" she noticed another presence suddenly, and her mischievous face nearly split apart with the grin she gave him. "Sorasorasorasorasorasorasorasorasorasorasorasorasorasorasorasorasorasorasora! Oh my God!" the little black ninja launched herself through the air at him, nearly bowling him over. Laughing hysterically, she kissed him on each cheek, then kissed Aerith on each cheek, then bounded over to a potplant and kissed it too for good measure.

_The Super Hyper Ninja Yuffie is a strange thing to see, _Sora thought, bemused and slightly awed as Yuffie zipped around the shop, at last collapsing at Aerith's feet, still giggling wildly. She looked up at Sora, panting, with indigo puppy dog eyes.

"So…" she broke off in a fit of laughter. "So, O mighty wielder of the Keyblade-" more giggles "-what did ya bring me?"

The mighty wielder of the Keyblade couldn't help it. He rolled around on the floor next to the apparently mad ninja, nearly splitting his sides with laughter.

Aerith must have grown impatient after the first couple of minutes. She nudged them both in the ribs with a dainty pink-slippered toe, her green eyes sharp. "Yuffie, aren't you supposed to be at the Waterway?" she asked the girl.

Yuffie was still red in the face and trembling form the exertion of so much laughter. "Aer, hang on, I wanna talk a bit, okay?" Without waiting for an answer she plunged in right ahead. "You wouldn't have just _one _red rose, would ya? I thought, you know, seeing as it's Valentine's Day and all… why don't I see if I can surprise Squallie the rock?" this was followed by a little burst of hysterical giggles.

Aerith opened her mouth, probably to ask why hadn't she come earlier, but the Keyblade wielder got in first. "Squall got the last of 'em." He said quickly. Aerith reddened slightly at the thought of going along with a lie, but she nodded with him. "He bought the last seventeen and just disappeared. I _did _hear him say something about the Waterway…" _Oh, Gawd, I hope that's not too obvious or Squall and Yuffie'll _both _be out to kill me…_

Yuffie narrowed her dark eyes at him. "As _if, _Sora." She said. "_Way _too obvious. Squall never said that."

"Damn," he muttered. "Okay, he never mentioned the Waterway, but he _did _buy seventeen roses, the last ones there, and left. So there."

"What is this, matchmaker Sora?" Yuffie sighed and stood up, then grinned suddenly. "Well, I'd better go make sure he's not giving those roses away to _anyone,_" she told them, mischief in her voice. "I can't _believe _Squallie-poo had the nerve to buy the last seventeen as if no one else wanted them!" She glomped Sora again and stalked out of the shop, looking like a black violet-eyed kitten gone to get her favourite toy.

Aerith heaved a sigh of relief, and Sora suddenly felt a whole lot of muscles he'd never noticed before relax. "Oh Gawd. Whoa. Leon-"

"Leon what?" the little black-haired ninja poked her head around the doorframe again. "I'm suspicious of you, O hallowed and exalted Keyblade master. You may be hallowed and exalted, but you're an idiot, and you suck at lying."

Sora glared at her. She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Yuffie. Go to Leon. I need to talk privately… unless I can't trust you to do that?"

Yuffie stomped a foot and folded her arms. Pride was a touchy subject with her. "You _know _you can trust me. All I wanted to say was I like the new look. You don't hurt my eyes any more."

Sora growled and reached for the Keyblade. The ninja's eyes widened and she vanished out of sight.

"Sora." An emotionless voice said. Or maybe not so emotionless- a strain of anger was evident in it. "Sora, 'O hallowed and exalted one', I am going to kick your hallowed and exalted ass. And then I'm going to clone you and kill all your clones."

"No!" Aerith cried melodramatically. "Can't he at least say good bye to his true love?"

The young Keyblade master rolled his eyes at the Grammy-worthy performance. "Okay. Squall- is it all right if I call you Squall? I'm gonna call you Squall from now on anyway… first, stand up from under that table so Aerith can see you. Second, bring that wet cloth bag with you, the one beside you. For your sake, it'd better not be under you…"

Surprisingly, Squall did so. Maybe it was the thought of what an angry Yuffie could do. Even Sora shuddered at the thought. "What am I supposed to do with a wet bag, might Keyblade master?" The older man asked with unconcealed irritation, holding it up.

"Well, you _could_ move it away from me. It's dripping, Squall. Then you could look inside… you know, at all the _red roses _inside…" For the third time that evening, Sora almost choked on his laughter as Squall practically ripped the bag open.

"Oh, thank _God._ Sora, you're such an idiot sometimes, but this time I probably owe you my life." Squall quickly counted out seventeen roses (A/N- Yuffie's age in this one) and sprinted out of the shop.

Sora looked up at Aerith. "That was quick," he said.

She looked back down at him. "I can't wait for them to come back. Oh my God. Peace in the Hotel for at least a day!"

Sora smirked. "It looks like Cloudy's changed you a bit, Aer." He stated.

To his surprise, Aerith smirked back. "You only just noticed?"

They both laughed.

"So, Aerith, do you have any purple roses for me? I want… eleven, please. That's her lucky number."

The brunette flower-girl nodded in complete understanding. "She'll like that. You're lucky I've just begun experimenting with that strain of rose (A/N- sounds like a disease, don't it?). I'll go get them."

Sora sighed as Aerith scuttled into the back of her shop. It was good to catch up with the others again. Now he could only hope that Riku had somehow returned to the Islands. _Then I'll have been reunited with them all,_ he reflected wistfully.

"Sora. Here you go! Eleven purple roses for your… is she your girlfriend? Well, she will be once you give her these."

Sora clutched the silver-wrapped bouquet to his chest, rolling his eyes again. "I need to learn how to become invisible when you start talking like this. That way I can escape the torment."

Aerith grinned at him, then suddenly turned all serious. "Um, Sora?"

"Yeah?"

"Um. Could you please stand up? You're making me nervous. I'm not used to talking to someone lying on the ground, and I can't tell if you're about to start looking up my dress."

Sora smirked and pulled himself up via the potplant that had received the better end of Yuffie's attentions only a few minutes earlier. "Sure thing. I've gotta go now, though. I'll come back and visit, I promise Aerith! Okay?"

The pink-clad woman hugged him again. "You'd better," she muttered into his ear. "Or I'll send Cloud to get you back. That guy will do _anything _for a good kiss."

They exchanged smirks again. Then Sora hefted the bouquet and the hessian bag. "Bye!" He called out on his way out of the shop.

* * *

"Sora!" yelped Nami excitedly, leaning over his shoulder and pointing at the scene ahead. "There's a world!"

"I know," he replied absently. _It looks so different from back here. Way different to when you live on it._ "It's Destiny Islands."

"Yay!" the blonde squealed, sounding more childish than ever as she clapped her hands. "Why didn't you just warp here, Sora?"

The Keyblade master sighed. "I've never found the co-ordinates for the Islands until that last time in Twilight Town, where Larxene (3) dropped them after our last battle. You can't warp to a place you've never visited in a Gummi Ship before."

Nami appeared to ignore him, her hair swinging almost across his eyes as she peered intently at the World they were approaching. "What are you going to do when you see her?" she demanded, not taking her eyes off the screen. "Why did you bring me? I don't get it…"

He smirked. "You'll understand when we get there. Provided he is there… now, back off before I crash."

She stepped back hurriedly.

* * *

He shaded his eyes at the silver glint that suddenly swooped out of the sunset, rapidly descending towards the island. His heartbeat quickened, and he spun to face the rough line of wooden houses, well back from the glittering ocean. "Kairi!" He shouted. "Kai, I think you should come here."

A girl with long auburn hair looked over the edge of a walking platform, and dropped down to run over to him. "What is it?"

"I think he's come back." He told her.

The girl's purple eyes lit up, then faded as she shook her head. "I don't think so. We haven't seen him for over a year. Okay, not over. But today is exactly a year since the Islands were restored. It was only a month ago when you returned, remember?" she reminded him.

The boy brushed a strand of silver hair out of his eyes. "Just come with me. I'll show you what I saw." He pleaded with her.

Kairi relented. "Show me. If you're wrong, you've just caused me a lot of heartache."

"I'm not wrong," he assured her, taking her hand and heading off towards the bridge that joined a small island with a paopu tree to the mainland. "Just trust me."

* * *

Sora shook his head, trying to get rid of the headache that had come from the jolt of landing. _That wouldn't have happened if Destiny Islands had a proper landing strip,_ he thought, growling as he pulled himself out of the pilot's seat. Nami joined him on his way to the exit of the medium-sized Gummi ship.

She blinked at the brightness of the outside as the door gave a mechanical hiss and shuddered open, squinting at Sora. "Are you going to go out?" she asked him. "You won't have to go looking for her. She's coming."

Sora glanced at her, both of them silhouetted by the artificial light behind them. "How do you know that?" he queried, then sighed and ran his finger through his spiky hair. "Don't answer that. I probably don't want to know."

The delicate girl's answering smile was sunny and slightly mischievous. "Are you _sure_? I do know what she looks like… which means I know her when I see her coming over that bridge.

His eyes widened as he stood frozen at the exit of his ship, the lilac roses in hand. A girl with shoulder-length auburn hair and bright blue eyes came running up to the ship dragging a tall silver-haired person behind her.

"Sora!"

He broke out of his shock the second she called his name and ran out to meet her.

"Kairi!"

She threw her arms around him, one still firmly attached to Riku who went flying into Sora and knocked them all over. Namine giggled from the entrance of the ship. She pointed to Riku.

"Hey Sora, is _that_ the reason you brought me here?"

Sora laughed. "Namine," he said, still on the ground, "Go stand over near the paupo tree. I have to say something to Riku and Kairi first."

She giggled again and skipped over to the tree as Sora turned slightly to Riku. "Now, Riku, you know how it's Valentine's Day and all?" he asked.

Riku nodded, aquamarine eyes darting back and forth between the blonde and the Keyblade master.

"Well… I've got a lot of red roses in here-" he shoved the hessian sack at Riku "-and I'll give them all to you for her if you take her away. I've been around that naïve girl for a year, listening to her babble about you. It was horrible."

Riku grinned. "That just makes my job easier," he told his friend. "Now, if you'll excuse me…" he grabbed the bag and strode off to the girl.

That left Kairi and Sora tangled on the ground.

He looked at her.

She looked back.

She glanced at the handful of lilac roses clenched in his fist, and grinned. "I really hate purple roses, Sora." She told him.

Sora, the powerful Keyblade master, bane of Heartless and the dark, stared at her wild-eyed and fainted dead beneath her.

"Sora? Sora!"

What a Valentine's Day.

* * *

(1)- Environmentally friendly! Isn't he a good boy? >pats Sora plushie on the head>

(2)- Duh. You don't need me to tell you. This is the name of his ship… isn't that obvious? But then, if I think it's obvious, why am I saying this? Oh well. There goes me, confuddling me again… >nurses poor overused brain>

(3)- once again this is obvious. My own plot. Okies? I don't really care what you think about that.

* * *

Well, there ya go. I know. All canon couples. But what better way to start off a collection of romances with ones everyone knows and probably loves?

Please R&R, and request your fave couple! Hope y'all enjoy… this chapter was written with the help of Depressed Mizuki towards the end, as my muse went to sleep… and was written for Raccoon48, since all SoKai's done by me are now for her!

Well… I leave you to review! >bows and walks away>


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